


Your Obedient Servant

by hercdotmulligan



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Autistic!Alex, M/M, Non-binary!Lafayette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-10-25 19:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10770474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hercdotmulligan/pseuds/hercdotmulligan
Summary: When Thomas helps Alex out at a party one night, Alex can’t stand the thought of being indebted to Jefferson, so begins to plan schemes to get back at him, however Thomas retaliates and does the same, leading to an endless spiral of doing increasingly elaborate nice things for each other, while failing to realise that they actually begin to enjoy each other’s company.A mostly humorous college AU, featuring autistic!Alex and non-binary!Lafayette.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written based on my own experience with autism, if you have any questions or comments please let me know.

If one thing was certain, it was that Thomas was not enjoying his party. Now in his second year at collage, he had settled down into an easy routine of pretending to be friends with everyone, giving him plenty of connections that he could exploit when necessary. However, despite his charming and popular exterior, in reality there were very few people he was fond of. James was perhaps the only person he actually enjoyed talking to – and Hamilton, but that was a whole different story.

Alexander Hamilton had marched into college on the first day, an orphan immigrant on a scholarship, wearing his opinions on his sleeve, not even taking a day to settle in before he got into his first debate. Thomas had not been present at the debate, but rumour of the loudmouthed kid from the Caribbean quickly spread around campus, and it wasn’t long before Thomas got to witness one of his shouting matches first hand. Just two days after his first debate, he spotted Hamilton, or at least he presumed it was him, shouting loudly at Samuel Seabury, surrounded by an ever-growing crowd. From his understanding, Seabury had made a comment about immigrants leaching off American taxpayer’s money and Hamilton had immediately stepped up to oppose him. Listened to his well-crafted arguments, Thomas had to admit he was impressed by his quick thinking and wit, although his form was somewhat sloppy. He also had to admit he was extremely hot, not that that was something Thomas was thinking about.

The next week when classes started, Thomas wasn’t surprised to see Hamilton in both his political science and US history classes, but what did surprise him, was Hamilton’s silence. In class, he behaved exactly how Thomas had expected, constantly questioning the professor, bringing up points that never would have even crossed most people’s minds. Outside class or whichever argument he’d got himself into that week, however, he was silent, holding his head down low and avoiding eye contact. He did seem to make friends though. Thomas often saw him with Eliza, the middle Schuyler sister, a rich family like Thomas’s own, and his group of friends who liked to call themselves ‘The Revolutionary Set’. Together, they were loud, abrasive and annoying, the only bearable of the four being Lafayette, a French whom Thomas knew from his family’s frequent trips to France.

Unsurprisingly, Hamilton’s radical views and unpolished passion had led to him having many rivals, including Thomas himself. Hamilton was one of the only people in his classes that he’d been unable to charm. It appeared that Hamilton preferred to skip the pleasantries and dive head first into his debates, of which he had many with Thomas. It wasn’t that Thomas disagreed with everything he said, Thomas would often agree with him, especially in his arguments with the likes of Seabury and ‘King’ George, but Hamilton’s radical views on several controversial subjects practically begged to be challenged and Thomas was more than happy to fulfil that. Truthfully, Thomas thoroughly enjoyed his debates with Hamilton, but their rivalry quickly became known across the whole college and many people seemed to be under the impression that they hated each other. Sometimes Thomas wondered if that was true on Hamilton’s half, but Lafayette had assured him Hamilton’s unwillingness to talk was nothing personal.

He wondered if Hamilton was here tonight. He hadn’t seen Hamilton at any parties so far across their time in college, but he was pretty sure he’d seen John Laurens earlier and when one of The Revolutionary Set was around, the others often weren’t far behind.

When a clearly drunk person knocked Thomas out of his trance, he decided that he’d had enough for now and decided to head upstairs, which he had clearly cordoned off before all the guests arrived, both to preserve his privacy and give him a place he could escape to if he became tired of socialising. With a quick glance around to ensure no one was watching, he ducked below the rope and shot up the stairs. Once he reached the top of the stairs he noticed someone sitting in the corner of the landing. Storming over, ready to shout at them for their seeming inability to follow the simple instructions on the sign, he noticed they appeared to be crying and were curled up defensively. He froze. Unsure of what to do, he inspected them again, realising they were none other than Alexander Hamilton, his rival. Hesitantly he moved forwards, still unsure of exactly what he was going to do.

“Hamilton?” He said softly, kneeling down beside him. He placed a hand on Hamilton’s arm, but he quickly snatched his arm away. “Right… sorry.” A silence hung between them, with only the muffled sounds of music and shouting from the party below breaking it. “Hamilton, are you ok?” He asked cautiously. Still no response. “Hamilton…” To his surprise, Hamilton finally spoke.

“What do you want Jefferson?”

“I just… you were crying and I wanted to help.”

“I don’t need your help.” Thomas deflated hearing the venom in his voice.

“You don’t need to act so defensive. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to make sure you’re ok, alright?” Hamilton took a deep breath in, then slowly nodded. A small smile twitched across Thomas’s face. “So, do you want to talk about what’s wrong?”

“Too much” he stated simply.

“Too much?”

“The party, the noise, the people, it’s all too much.” Thomas nodded in understanding, then opened his mouth, about to speak, but Hamilton continued. “It was a stupid idea. I knew parties would be too much for me, what about party doesn’t scream sensory overload? But John, Laf and Herc all looked so excited, I didn’t want to ruin their fun.” Thomas could see more tear’s building up in his eyes.

“It’s ok. It’s ok” he assured. “Come on, let’s get somewhere more comfortable.” He stood up and offered a hand out to Hamilton. He didn’t take it, but pushed himself up and followed as Thomas lead him to his bedroom. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to allow Hamilton into his room, but he looked so helpless, and with the party downstairs, there wasn’t much else to go. Hamilton hovered by the door until Thomas urged him in and told him to sit down on the bed.

“Make yourself comfortable.” He sat stiffly for a moment, before giving in and grabbing a pillow, curling his body around it. “Do you want me to find your friends?” Thomas offered. Hamilton shook his head fiercely.

“I don’t want them worrying over me. I just want quiet for a while” he whispered.

“Should I leave you alone? You can sit here as long as you like. I’ll make sure no one disturbs you.” Letting his rival stay alone in his room wasn’t something Thomas would usually think of doing, but Hamilton looked so helpless tightly clutching the pillow. Thomas moved up, about to leave when he heard a small sound escape Hamilton’s mouth. “Sorry, could you say that again?”

“Stay.” Thomas raised his eyebrows in surprise, but remained seated next to Hamilton, being careful not to intrude on his personal space.

“Is there anything you want me to do?”

“Talk to me.”

“Talk to you? About what?” He shrugged.

“Anything. Your voice is nice. It gives me something to focus on.” Thomas felt a blush rise up his cheeks as Hamilton complimented his voice, but immediately began to speak, awkwardly at first, but soon he found himself describing every detail of his past week: any particularly interesting things he'd learn, his annoyance as his favourite coffee shop being temporarily closed for renovations, his daily struggle to pick the perfect outfit (at which Hamilton snorted) and the tiresome chain of events that had led to him hosting this party. As he spoke he watched Hamilton rhythmically stroke the pillow, his eyes fixed on Thomas, listening to every word he said.

He didn’t stop until he heard three muffled voiced coming from the stairs. After offering a quick apology to Hamilton and getting an approving nod, he went out into the hall to investigate. Once out of the bedroom, he could easily distinguish Lafayette’s voice with their thick French accent, followed by what he assumed was Laurens and Mulligan.

“Laf… Are you sure this is a good idea…” the voice slurred it words, clearly having had a little too much to drink.

“Oui, we have to find our petit lion. Thomas isn’t going to notice. Then we can bring him home safe.” They were looking for Hamilton.

“I told bringing him to a party wouldn’t go well.”

“He’s not a child Herc.”

“I still worry for him.” Thomas listened to the conversation intently. Though he would never admit it, he was jealous of Hamilton’s little group of friends. Except for James, he’d never had any close friends. It would be nice to know there was a whole group of people who always had his back.

“Wait mes amies… I hear something.” There was a moment of silence before all three of them tumbled over the top set, right into the landing in front to Thomas. Lafayette was the first to get up, with the others following, all dishevelled and seemed somewhat drunk.

“Ah! Thomas mon ami!” Lafayette greeted in an exaggerated joyous tone. “You haven’t seen our little Alexander, have you?” A large smile was plastered across their face while the two others stood nervously behind them.

“As a matter of fact, I have.” He was slightly apprehensive about bringing three more people into his bedroom, but he supposed there was little other option. “Come with me.” All three shot him a curious look, but didn’t question as they followed him down the landing.

As soon as Alexander came into view, all three rushed to his side, noticeably standing spread out as not to make him uncomfortable. Thomas hovered awkwardly in the doorway as they began to speak.

“Touch or no?” John asked immediately. Alexander shook his head and the three remained distant from him. It seemed like they were well used to situations such as this one by now.

“Mon petit lion! Are you ok? We’re so sorry we lost you.”

“Yeah I thought you were with Laf and Herc-”

“-And we thought you were with John.”

“Did you manage to calm yourself down mon ami?” Alexander bit his lip, then took in a deep breath.

“Thomas helped” In unison they all turned to Thomas with indiscernible expressions on their faces.

“Do you want us to take you home now?” Hercules offered, turning back to Alexander.

“That would be nice” he replied, giving his friends a tired smile.

“Do you want to hold my hand, just to get you through the party?” John held his hand out to Alexander, who nodded an accepted it. Together, the four of them shuffled out of the room, Lafayette saying a quiet thank you to Thomas as they walked pasted. As they walked downstairs, Thomas was left standing alone in his room, searching for explanations of the scene that had just unfolded in front of him. He had certainly seen a different side of Hamilton that night, and he wondered if maybe this would bring a change to their relationship, or whether Hamilton would remain as focused and closed off as ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy reading this! If you want to talk to me come say hi on tumblr @hercdotmulligan.
> 
> Comments are greatly appreciated <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot of coffee involved in this chapter and I know nothing about coffee so I'm sorry for any mistakes. I literally just looked up 'pretentious coffee order' to work out what Jefferson would drink.

As Alex hauled himself out of bed, the memory of the previous night quickly returned to him, the string event of events that had led to him spending a considerable amount of time in his arch nemesis, Thomas Jefferson’s, bedroom, listening to him ramble on about his week. Then suddenly it hit him. Why was Jefferson so nice to him, someone who’s only ever argued with him? Why had he not thrown him out the moment he’d disobeyed the very clear instructions at the bottom of the stairs?

He wanted to have one up on him. Lafayette always talked about how Jefferson loved having his connections, people who he could use for his own means. Alex wasn’t going to let himself become one of them. There was only one solution, to beat Jefferson at his own game. He immediately leapt up to his desk and opening his notebook to brainstorm ideas.

He'd almost finished four pages of ideas when he heard a soft knock on his door.

“Alex.” John’s voice drifted through the door. “I heard movement, are you awake?” Alex smiled.

“I am,” he replied simply.

“Great! Can I come in?” Alex felt his smile widen at John’s cheery voice.

“Yeah, of course.” The click of the door handle signified his entrance to the room. Alex looked up from his notebook.

“What ’you writing?”

“Plans to get back at Jefferson.”

“Oh Shit” he said softly. “What did he do? I’m so sorry Alex.” John sat on the end of Alex’s bed. “I can't imagine how horrible it would have been to go through that with… him.” Spite filled his voice. “Do you want me to go and punch him, because I will gladly do that.”

“It's fine” Alex muttered.

“Are you sure? I'd be more that happy to see him pay for hurting you.” Somewhere through his rant John had stood up and held his fists tight, as if he was ready to fight someone there and then.

“No, he was fine, really great actually.” John’s mouth fell open slightly and he sat back down.

“Oh… right. Umm… what's the problem then?”

“Don't you see? He was only nice so he could have one up on me. Y’know, making connection, like Lafayette says he does. That makes sense, right?” Alex looked pleadingly at John, desperate for assurance he’d read the situation right.

“That does sound a lot like something Jefferson would do.” A large smile spread across Alex’s face. “What are you planning?” John asked, now looking over his shoulder. Alex began excitedly explaining his ideas to do something for Jefferson to get them even again, perhaps even give himself the one up. Once they'd made it through all his ideas, they'd ultimately decided that none of them quite pushed it enough. They needed something that Jefferson wouldn't be able to brush off, something that would really make up for the hour he spent helping Alex.

“Maybe we should ask Lafayette, they know him best after all” John suggested. Alex thought about it for a moment, reluctant to tell the others of his plan in fear they'd dismiss it, or worse try and talk him out of it.

“Yeah, ok” he decided eventually, looking at all the pages spread out in front of them.

“Just a word of warning, Lafayette’s gonna be very happy to see you up and well, they might not be able to stop themself from hugging you. I could get Herc to hold them back if you'd be uncomfortable.”

“No, it's ok.” With Alex’s assurance, the two of them headed out of his room.

Just as John had predicted, as soon as Lafayette saw Alex, they engulfed him in a big hug, but quickly let go and began apologising profusely.

“I'm so sorry mon ami. I'm just so happy to see you up and well. I should have asked before hugging you.”

“It's ok, John warned me.” John shot Laf a mischievous smile.

“Hey, want some breakfast? I made some scrambled egg” Hercules offered, with a plate of scrambled egg in his hand and wearing Lafayette’s ‘kiss the chef’ apron. Alex nodded, his face lighting up at the thought of Herc’s delicious scrambled eggs.

“I’ll have some too, if there’s enough of course” John asked excitedly.

“There’s always enough for everyone” Hercules chuckled.

“Great. I don’t know how you do it, make scrambled egg so much better than everyone else. It’s just egg, what could you possibly do?”

“Secret recipe” he replied with a wink. “Laf can you put the toast down?”

“Oui, of course!” Laf leapt up and almost danced across the room, popping the toast down in one swift movement. Once he’d got everyone sat down with a plate of scrambled egg on toast in front of them, Hercules made up his own plate and joined them at the table. They sat in silence as they wolfed down their breakfast, John finishing first.

“So Laf, Alex and I were just working on something upstairs, and we might need your help with it.” Lafayette smiled proudly.

“How may I be of service to you mes amis?”

“We need to do something really nice for Jefferson” Alex blurted, before John could reply. Both Hercules and Lafayette’s mouths fell agape and they shared a side glance with each other.

“Well I'm, how you say, perplexed, but I'm glad you two are finally getting along. I've always thought you'd make great friends if you would just stop shouting at each other.” The confusion on their face shifted to a smile.

“Friends? Ew no.” Laf’s face returned to confusion. “I need to make sure he doesn't have one up on me.”

“You know what he's like Laf, he doesn't do being nice unless he has something to gain from it” John backed him up when Lafayette didn't respond.

“Look, I know Thomas is how you say-“

“A pompous asshole” Hercules offered.

“That is one way to put it. But he's not as bad as you all think and he’s certainly not going to hurt our petit lion.”

“I wouldn't give him the chance.” John held up his fists, to which Hercules rolled his eyes.

“Well what I’m trying to say is maybe he's reaching out, trying to make amends.”

“But why would he do that Laf? He's my rival.” Alex looked at Laf, desperately hoping they'd see his side. He wasn't always good at reading situations, and it had got him in a fair bit of trouble in the past, but this time he was sure he was right; there was no other possible explanation. And John had agreed with him, why couldn't Lafayette see it? “Help me, Gilbert du Mortier, Marquis de Lafayette, you're my only hope” he pleaded, causing all three of them to laugh.

“How could I say no to that?” Lafayette sighed resignedly, but a smile was creeping across his face. “If there's one thing Thomas loves, except his stupid mac and cheese, it's his fancy coffees, I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you bought one to all his morning classes.” Alex’s whole fade lit up.

“Lafayette, you're a genius!” Without explanation, he jumped up and marched towards the door.

“Alex, where are you going?” John asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

“The Schuyler sister’s house” he answered quickly, not wanting to have to hang around and explain his plan.

“Care to tell us why?”

“Nope.” With that being said he opened the door and walked out, only just hearing Hercules shout his name. He could explain it to them all later, but this plan was just too good not to peruse immediately. The Schuyler house was only a few minute walk away from Lafayette’s, giving him enough time to fully think through his plan, but not too long to have to wait to begin carrying it out. It was perfect, a combination of both personal to Jefferson, and something that would make it look like he'd put a lot of effort into it, while not inconveniencing him too much. There was no way Jefferson would be able to outdo him.

When he arrived at the Schuyler house, Eliza was already standing at the door waiting for him.

“Hello Alex, I've been expecting you.” She smiled brightly at him. He frown and opened his mouth to speak but found himself lost for words. “Lafayette texted me to let me know you were coming” she explained, noticing his confusion. “So, to what do I owe this visit?”

“You worked in that fancy coffee shop just off campus, the one that just closed down, right?”

“I did” she answered, still looking at him expectantly.

“Do you remember how to make the triple shot caramel caffé latte?” he asked, hoping he got the order right.

“The one Jefferson gets?” Alex breathed a sigh of relief at her recognition. “Yeah of course I do, we all remember that one well, god forbid someone messes up Jefferson’s order.” She laughed a little.

“Do you think you could teach me how to make it?”

“Umm well, it might be a bit tricky without all the stuff at the coffee shop, but I could give it a try.”

“Thank you so much Eliza! You’re the best. I promise I'll make this up to you.” The wide smile that spread across his face was reflected on Eliza's.

“Well you could start by explaining why you suddenly want to know how to make Jefferson’s favourite coffee.”

“It's… umm… a kinda long story” Alex mumbled.

“Why don't you come in and explain, I'm sure Peggy would love to say hi, and Angelica when she gets back.” Alex followed her into the living room, where Peggy was sprawled across the couch watching TV. “Budge up Peggy, we have guests.” Noticing Alex, Peggy quickly shuffled herself into a seating position, leaving room for the two of them to sit beside her.

“Hi Alex, Eliza didn’t tell me you’d be visiting today.” Peggy smiled at Alex, then shot a glare at Eliza.

“I didn’t know until about ten minutes ago.” After a quick catch up with Peggy, Alex began to explain the events of the previous night, describing it in detail, not leaving a single part out as Eliza listened intently.

“So now I have to do something for Jefferson, so I’m not indebted to him or whatever” he finished finally.

“So you're going to make him his favourite coffee?”

“Yeah, exactly.” He looked at her hopefully, praying that she wouldn't disagree and refuse to help him. When she finally nodded, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ok, lets get started.” Eliza lead him to the kitchen then pointed at a cupboard. “I think we have all the ingredients here, look in that cupboard for vanilla extract and caramel syrup, I'll get the milk, sugar and coffee.” Alex knelt down in front of the cupboard and began to peruse through it’s contents. There was a multitude of different small bottles, some containing things that Alex wasn't even sure what they were for, but the Schuyler sisters were known for always having whatever ingredients you needed, no matter how obscure. Lafayette had even nicknamed their cupboards ‘the cupboard of requirement’ due to their seeming ability to pull out whatever you might need at that time. Rifling through it, it became clear that there was no magic involved, just a huge mass of various things stuffed in every one.

“Why do you have so much stuff in your cupboards?”

“Mom and Dad like to send us lots of stuff. I don't think they quite understand the typical college student diet.” Like Jefferson, the Schuyler family had a ridiculously large quantity money, allowing the three sisters to live a far more luxurious life than one might expect from a college student, but nevertheless, the Schuyler sisters were outwardly like any other student on campus, not flaunting their wealth on a cape like Jefferson did (not quite a cape, but some of his ridiculous outfits did come close). He finally stumbled upon the vanilla extract right at the back of the cupboard and the caramel syrup right behind it.

“Got it!” he called triumphantly, holding up the two bottles. He handed over the ingredients and watched carefully as she began to put them all together, trying to remember each step. He struggled to keep up as she expertly made her way through each step, hardly having to think about it. She did ask him to put some milk in the frother, but apart from that, he felt fairly useless, left just watching helplessly while she got to work.

“I think I’ve got it” she declared just ten minutes later. She took a small sip of the drink she was holding and a warm smile spread across her face. “This tastes about right. Do you want to try some?” Alex nodded and carefully took the cup from Eliza’s hands, then taking a small sip. He suddenly understood why Jefferson liked this drink so much. The sweet, although possibly a little too sweet for his tastes, caramel flavour made it taste more like a desert than a coffee. As he took another sip, the overwhelming sweetness of the drink became almost too much more him, he certainly couldn’t drink a whole mug of it. When he lowered the cup, Eliza began to chuckle. He looked at her curiously wondering what was so funny.

“Milk moustache.” She pointed at his upper lip. Alex patted it lightly feeling the foamy milk that was spread across it. “Tissue?” Eliza offered up the box of tissues, which Alex gratefully accepted and wiped his mouth. “To my recollection, Jefferson usually gets coffee every Monday and Thursday. I have some free time in the morning now I’m not working at the coffee shop anymore, so I could make some up both of those day and you could come and collect it before classes start.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes of course. You’re my friend Alex, and I can see that this is important to you, so I’m willing to help in whatever way I can.”

“You are literally the best Eliza. Thank you so much.” A buzz came from the kitchen counter where Eliza’s phone sat. She picked it up and quickly glanced at the notification.

“It’s Hercules, he’s just checking if you’re ok.”

“You can tell him I’m great” he said truthfully.

“Hey if you’re not busy do you all want to hang out here for a bit? Angelica should be getting back soon and we’d all love to hang out with you guys.”

“I’m not busy, and I don’t think the others are either.”

“Great! I’ll send them a text inviting them over.” She quickly typed a short message and almost instantly received a reply of ‘YES’ written in all capital letters. “They’re coming.” The smile on Alex’s face widened, he was so lucky to have such an amazing group of friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry, but my GCSEs start in just over a week which are hella important exams (like everything I've done at school for the past two years has been building up to this one month of exams) so I won't be able to get another chapter done until they finish on 16th June so you're gonna have to wait a while for the next chapter sorry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> exams are finally over!! which means I can now go back to writing this :D
> 
> I'll try and update as often as possible, probably weekly although I haven't got an update schedule yet

Since the events of Friday night’s party, thoughts of Hamilton had continually clawed the back of Thomas’s mind. He’d looked so vulnerable… human. Of course, he’d always been human, but to Thomas he’d been nothing more than the asshole who yelled at him in debates, then walked away without another word. It was strange, Hamilton seemed to have the ability to speak for hours on end, and Thomas had probably heard him say more words than anyone else, but he knew so little about him, except his opinion on the latest political events which he ensured everyone in the surrounding mile knew. Seeing Hamilton in the corner of his landing, defenceless, had completely torn that image of him apart, allowed Thomas to see him as a real person, and forced him to look back on everything he’d said to him.

He hadn’t been nice exactly, often getting frustrated ignored his initial attempts at communication and resorting to insults and taunts. Over the weekend every interaction with Hamilton had played over in his head, and now on Monday morning he stood nervously outside the door of his first class with Hamilton, too scared to push the door open. A million different things to say upon seeing Hamilton had flooded through his head, but not one of them seemed right.

“Thomas,” James’s voice interrupted his daze. “Are you ok? You’ve been starting at that door for five minutes.”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” Thomas waved his hand dismissively.

“Are you sure? You’ve been acting weird since the party on Friday. You know you can tell me if somethings up, right?”

“I know, I just had a little too much to drink and haven’t quite recovered yet,” he lied – he hadn’t had a single drop of alcohol that night. James looked unconvinced but decided not to push it any further.

“We should go into class now.”

“Right, yes, we should do that.” Another flash of concern spread over James’s face again, but Thomas walked into the classroom to avoid any further questioning. His eyes automatically drifted towards Hamilton’s usual spot at the front. Surprisingly, he found it empty. A wave of concern flooded over him, followed by confusion. Hamilton was usually at least fifteen minutes early for every class, but now less than two minutes before it was due to start he was absent.

Thomas sat down, trying not to show his disappointment. He was unable to stop his eyes flickering between the clock and door, anxiously watching as more seconds ticked by without Hamilton arriving.

“What’d you think happened to Hamilton?” James leant across the desk to whisper the question to Thomas. Thomas simply shrugged, not trusting his voice to no give away his worry. “Class is going to be a lot quieter without his constant commentary.”

Just as James spoke, Hamilton thundered through the door ungracefully with a cup of coffee in his hand and large bags under his eyes. Although Thomas was happy to see him alive, he looked in no state to be coming into class. Thomas found himself staring at Hamilton as he walked into the classroom and almost jumped out of his seat when he turned to face him and started walking straight towards him.

“Jefferson.” Ok, so they were back to using last names. “This is for you.” He shoved the coffee in front of Thomas, eyes fixed on the ground. Eyebrows shooting up, Thomas opened his mouth to reply but without avail. His mouth remained hung open as he struggled to gather words in response. Hamilton’s stance stayed the same, one arm stiffly by his side, the other offering up the coffee and his eyes refusing to meet Thomas’ own. Finally, Thomas managed to take a deep breath and compose himself.

“I think it would be more useful for you with those bags under your eyes.” The comment was meant out of concern, but as soon as he said it out loud he realised it could easily be taken as an insult, especially given his past record with Hamilton.

“Just take the coffee Thomas.” To his side, Thomas saw James tilt his head curiously. Shrugging at James, he accepted the coffee, felling his fingers brush against Hamilton’s. Even after he’d taken the coffee, Hamilton didn’t move, starting intently at the coffee.

Nervously Thomas lifted it up the cup and took a sip. He had to supress a groan as the flavour spread through his mouth, caramel layered on vanilla with a delicious creamy texture. He instantly recognised the taste of his favourite coffee order from the coffee shop just off campus, the same one he was telling Hamilton about on Friday night. He looked up and saw that Hamilton was positively delighted at his clear enjoyment of the drink.

“What…? How?” he spluttered. Why? He wanted to ask. Was this Hamilton extending a hand of friendship? He certainly hadn’t expected that, but felt almost excited about the prospect of getting to know Hamilton better. However, when he looked back to his face in search for an explanation he was met with a smirk.

“If I told you that, I wouldn’t have anything over you, would I?” Oh, so this was what it was about. He felt a strange sinking feeling in his chest. Before he could respond Hamilton had already stalked away to his usual place.

“What was that? There’s definitely something weird going on between you and Hamilton. Is that what’s been bothering you all weekend? Did something happen between you two at the party?” James questioned. Thankfully before Thomas had the chance to reply the professor walked in and commanded the class to silence. James didn’t appear to be paying attention, instead starting between him and Hamilton. Thomas hated to think what was going through his brain.

Class passed mostly normally, with only the notable exception of Hamilton not jumping at every opportunity to tell everyone else how wrong they were. Thomas found himself getting increasingly irate as they continued spouting nonsense, without Hamilton’s usual retorts to stop them. Despite their disagreements Thomas had always admired his intelligence, it was refreshing to finally have someone else on his level in a class full of nitwits. Many times throughout the hour, he’d caught Hamilton’s eyes drift to him and felt his heart quicken slightly then turned away suddenly – not that he had been staring in the first place.

Once class was finally over Hamilton darted away to his next class as usual and Thomas was just about to head to the library, not having another class for two hours, when he felt a hand tightly grip his arm.

“Thomas, you are going to tell me what is happening between you and Hamilton. You were staring at him for the whole class, you haven’t been yourself since the party and I know he was there too. I’m your friend, please tell me what’s bothering you.” James looked at him pleadingly, not removing his hand from his arm.

“It’s complicated.” The answer didn’t seem to satisfy James.

“How complicated can it be? Did you two drunkenly have sex and now you’re embarrassed about it?”

“No!” Thomas exclaimed, scandalised. “Nothing like that.”

“Then what is it?”

“Look I promise I’ll explain it all later, just not here. You have class to get to and I should go and study.” James frowned, but eventually resigned, giving a quick nod and releasing Thomas’ arm.

As soon as Thomas had got himself settled down with his work in the library an obnoxious voiced shouting his name followed by a collective shush interrupted his thoughts. He immediately recognised the loud French accent.

“Lafayette,” he hissed “What are you doing here, I’m studying.”

“I have to talk about our petit lion.” He had to admit Lafayette’s nickname for Hamilton was very fitting, if not a little strange.

“Can we do this later?”

“Non, mon ami, I’m afraid this cannot wait. Come with me, I promise I will let you return to your studies quickly.” He rolled his eyes, but decided that trying to fight Lafayette wasn’t worth it especially since they were already making enough of a scene in the middle of the library.

Lafayette smiled widely as he got up and followed them out of the library. As soon as they reached a quite spot they began to talk.

“Look, I know you helped Alex on Friday, and we’re all very grateful for that, but I have to warn you. If you ever use this to hurt him. We. Will. Hurt. You.” He finished pointedly, dark eyes looking directly into Thomas’. 

“I would never.”

“Alex thinks you would. Please, prove him wrong.” Despite the please, it was clear it was a demand rather than a request.

“I’m always happy to prove Hamilton wrong.”

“You know, I think you two would get along really well if you stopped yelling at each other for a moment and actually had a civil conversation.”

“That would require Hamilton to be willing to talk to me,” Thomas remarked, thinking back to his initial attempts to befriend Hamilton. Lafayette sighed and nodded slowly.

“Alex finds socialisation difficult. He could talk about politics for hours, but when the conversation turns to more conventional topics he’ll shut down. Befriending him can be a challenge, yes, but you both have a lot more in common than you think. Just give him a chance and be patient” Lafayette said sincerely. Thomas was surprised he seemed so invested in their relationship.

“Can’t make any promises.” His desire for friendship with Hamilton when they first met had been short lived, evaporating as soon as he opened his mouth about his awful ideas that gave the government far too much power, arguably breaking the rights of freedom for American citizens. Nevertheless, even with their disagreements, debating with Hamilton was often one of the more enjoyable parts of his day. Sometime the prospect of debating with Hamilton in class was the only thing getting him up in the morning.

“I can’t force you to be friends, but whatever you do, don’t hurt him. For your sake as well as his, there are a lot of people who love him and I’m sure between us we can find a way to dispose of your body.”

“I’m not going to hurt him.” A hint of anger rose in his voice. “I know what it’s like to deal with shit like this, and whatever your little group thinks, I’m not a complete asshole.” Lafayette’s eyes widened and his face slumped into an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry mon ami, I just worry about Alex.”

“You don’t need to. Alex isn’t a child and you don’t have to treat him as such,” he almost shouted, unaware of when Hamilton suddenly became Alex to him. It was obvious Lafayette’s protectiveness came from a place of caring, but it often seemed overbearing. Lafayette’s face fell and Thomas instantly felt regret for his harsh words. “Sorry, but you don’t always have to go and fight Alex’s battle for him, maybe I don’t know him as well as you, but I’ve been in a similar place to he is, was, on Friday night and having someone always standing over you is often unpleasant.” Surprised at himself for his sudden outburst, he looked at Lafayette nervously and saw that they simply nodded.

“You really are very similar,” they mused. “I’ll let you get back to your studying now.” They walked away leaving Thomas standing bewildered outside the library. He remained there for another five minutes, not working up the willpower to move. A combination of Alex’s strange behaviour and his own unexpected outburst left him unsure of what to think, especially in regard to his feelings towards Alex. He decided it would be best to return to studying, he would have plenty of time to ponder Lafayette’s words once he got home, besides it was always much easier to motivate himself to study when he was avoiding something worse. His mind suddenly drifted back to the promise he’d made James earlier and groaned. This wasn’t going to be easy to explain to someone else, especially given he couldn’t explain it to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed this, comments are always appreciated
> 
> In this, Thomas has anxiety and depression which from discussions with my friend who has them, do share some overlapping symptoms with autism so Thomas can understand how Alex feels at times. Since I don't have anxiety and depression myself, I'm going off reading things by people who do and what my friend tells me so please let me know if you feel I'm writing something wrong


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alex has feelings and he doesn't know what to do with them

After his success the day before, Alex woke up far earlier than usual, energised and ready to head straight to the Schuyler house. It wasn’t until he’d taken two steps out the door that he realised the Schuyler sisters would probably still be asleep and as much as they loved Alex, wouldn’t appreciate an intrusion into their house at six am. Reluctantly he turned around and walked back into the house.

Once inside, he pondered what to do for the next hour or so until it seemed like a reasonable time to turn up at someone’s house. Suddenly he remembered in his hurry to get to the Schuyler’s house, he’d forgotten to eat anything. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he knew Laf would lecture him about the importance of breakfast if they found out he’d been skipping it, so he popped two slices of toast down, staring at the toaster waiting for the distinctive popping sound indicating they were done. It seemed to take longer than usual, as Alex paced across the kitchen, trying not to let his thoughts wander back to Jefferson, which was becoming increasingly difficult since he was the reason he was awake so early in the first place. He shook his head violently. There was no way he was going to let Jefferson crawl into his life any more than was necessary. A welcome distraction came when his thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

“Woah Alex you look tense, are you ok?” It was Herc. Alex realised his fists were clenched and quickly released them, trying to return his body to a natural posture, only causing Hercules to laugh. “I think your toast is done” Hercules said, gesturing towards the toaster. Alex looked over and indeed the now brown toast was sticking out.

“Oh yes, I will get that” he mumbled.

“What are you doing up so early?”

“Dunno, just woke up early.” He shrugged, not in the mood to try and explain himself to Herc.

“You look ready to go out already. Got a secret meeting or something? Don’t worry I won’t tell the others” he said with a wink. Unsure of how to reply, Alex opted for just shaking his head.

“I’ve got to go and finish off an essay” He lied, in fact he was already weeks ahead of where he needed to be with his work. Herc probably knew this, but didn’t say a word, which Alex was grateful for. He felt a small stab of guilt at brushing off Herc’s concern, but he didn’t want to face complicated questions that he didn’t even know the answer to. He had reached the door of his bedroom when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Your toast.” He turned around to see Hercules holding his toast which was buttered and laid out on a plate.

“Thank you,” he said and accepted the plate, pleased when a smile spread across Herc’s face.

“No problem. You should try to get some rest man, you seem really out of it this morning, and it’s still a few hours till class starts.”

“I’ll try.” The answer seemed to satisfy Hercules, as he nodded and left Alex be, heading back to the kitchen. He was grateful it wasn’t Laf who had come down, they certainly wouldn’t have left him alone so easily.

The next hour passed slowly, with a mixture of pacing, writing and taking an occasional bite of the toast, which was now cold and half eaten. He glanced at the clock, 7:48. He supposed he could leave soon. Eight o’clock didn’t seem too early to arrive. If he recalled correctly, Angelica had an eight am class on Tuesdays so the Schuyler sisters would almost certainly be awake by now. After a moment’s more thought, he decided it would be fine, so he shoved his notebook and pens into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and heading towards the door.

“Yo Alex!” He heard John’s shout as he walked down the hallway. “Heading to the Schuyler sister’s place?”

“I am” he replied without turning around, hoping John wouldn’t ask any difficult questions.

“Ok, have fun. See you at lunch right?” Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, I’ll see you then. Text me when you’re out of class.” He gave John a smile over his shoulder.

“Cool” John said with finger guns, bringing a short laugh out of Alex. “See ya then.” Alex just responded with finger guns to match John’s. As he headed out the door, he heard John’s loud laughter, then a louder ‘shut the fuck up’ from Laf’s room.

As soon as he knocked on the door of the Schuyler house, he felt a small rise of panic inside him, suddenly questioning if this was too early after all, but it was only a few seconds before the door opened and a beaming Eliza on the other side calmed the swell of anxiety.

“Alex, good to see you!” she said, her voice filled with overwhelming optimism. “I take it it went well yesterday?” She phrased it as a question, inviting Alex to speak as he stepped through the door.

“Yes, it was perfect. He looked so happy when he tasted it, I mean you should have seen his face. This plan is flawless,” he enthused, causing Eliza to chuckle.

“Wow, you’re really excited about this. Usually your eyes only light up like that when you’re talking about politics.” Alex frowned at her comment. Why was he so excited about this? Why did a warm feeling rise in his chest when he thought about the huge smile that spread across Jefferson’s face when he took a sip of the coffee?

Satisfaction, from seeing his plan play out exactly as he’d hoped, that was it.

“I’m just glad it’s working. And because I get to spend time with the best helper ever,” he added, thinking of another reason this made him so happy. He shot a beam at her. Spending time with Eliza was a brilliant start to the day, as well as the added bonus of seeing the other two Schuyler sisters.

“I’m glad,” she said returning the smile. “You say Jefferson liked the coffee?” Alex nodded. “Did you talk to him at all?”

“Umm… not really. I just told him to take the coffee. Madison kept looking at me weirdly so I left.” Eliza’s face shifted to an expression that Alex couldn’t figure out.

“Do you want to?”

“Want to what?”

“Talk to Jefferson.”

“No!” was his immediate response. Despite the events at the party, Jefferson was still his arch nemesis. Every word that comes out of his mouth just makes him want to strangle him more, of course he didn’t want to talk to him. Yet, that wasn’t entirely true. Jefferson’s words at the party had had the opposite effect, bringing a sense of tranquillity when everything else around him seemed like a storm.

“You don’t seem sure about that,” she said softly. There was nothing accusatory in her tone. It was one of Alex’s favourite things about Eliza. Unlike some of his other friends, namely Lafayette, she never pushed him for answers, giving him the space he sometimes needed, but leaving the door open for him to step in as he pleased.

“I don’t know. I just keep thinking about him ever since the party. Is that weird?” Eliza just shook her head allowing him to continue. “I was terrified when I first saw him. I thought he was going to make fun of me and send me into a full-blown panic attack. But then he didn’t. He did everything just right, helped me, and I don’t know why he did. Jefferson was always easy. He was either yelling at me about politics, which I’m more than happy to yell back about, or he wasn’t a problem, but now there’s another side of him and I don’t know what to do with it.” The words poured out all at once, admitting it for the first time, even to himself.

“Is this ok?” Eliza asked, taking his hands and cradling them in her own; they were warm and comfortable. He nodded. “I know this is difficult and I don’t pretend to know what it’s like for you, but Thomas is still the same Jefferson you’ve already known. You can still debate in class just like you always have, that hasn’t changed, and if you want that’s all you have to do. Or, maybe you could talk to him, let this new side of him be a part of your life and who knows, maybe you might find you like it.”

“You make it sound a lot easier than it actually is.”

“I know, but I believe in you Alex. You’re one of the strongest people I know, if anyone can do it, you can.” Alex smiled. She always knew the best thing to say. “Now let’s make Jefferson the best damn coffee he’s ever drank.”

-

This time Alex was able to make the coffee and arrive at the class door ten minutes before class, as he always liked to. Jefferson would probably arrive stylishly almost-late as usual, so that left Alex on his own waiting for the next few minutes. He began running through everything they’d covered in the previous class in his head, ensuring he was prepared to shut down anyone who made a stupid point again. The memories of yesterday’s class were blurry, intertwined with images of Jefferson’s face, his dark eyes fixed on Alex. He tried to push them aside, but instead Eliza’s words echoed in his mind.

‘Let him be a part of your life.’ Could he really do that? ‘If anyone can do it you can.’ Eliza’s words came to his mind again. She always knew what to say. He could do this, taking it one step at a time. Give Jefferson the coffee, then wait. But any number of things could go wrong. He’d always hated waiting. It put the control outside of him, giving it to whoever snatched it up first. He had to do something, even if he didn’t know what that was yet. ‘Open your eyes’ another voice in his head instructed, this time his own. He’d barely registered closing them, but as he lifted his eyelids, Jefferson came into view, walking towards him.

“Your coffee” he said as soon as Jefferson approached, not giving him any chance to speak first.

“Oh, so this is an ongoing thing then?” Alex nodded, realising he wasn’t actually sure how long he was planning to keep this up. “You’re still not going to tell me where you’re getting this I suppose.”

“Never.”

“Well, thank you anyway. I’ve missed the wonderful taste of caramel in the morning.” Alex was sure he’d just imagined those words. Jefferson couldn’t really be expressing real gratitude, then again Alex had been wrong about him before. He searched for Madison laughing at his side, indicating the whole thing was a joke, but the space beside Jefferson was uncharacteristically empty.

“Where’s Madison?” he demanded.

“Sick.”

“Oh,” he mumbled, unsure of how to reply. He kept his eyes focused on Jefferson’s face, but avoiding his eyes. Silence hung over them while Alex shifted on his feet, trying to decide what to do next. Jefferson made the first move, opening his mouth to speak before a classmate’s shout interrupted him.

“Oi lovebirds you’re in the way of the door.” Alex felt anger boil inside him. He swirled to face the direction of the shout with his fists clenched by his side and saw Thomas had made the same movement. The classmate, whose name Alex couldn’t recall just smirked, causing his anger to intensify. He launched forwards, ready to give her a piece of his mind, until he felt an arm reach in front of him and hold him back.

“It’s not worth it.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t want your tiny little boyfriend getting hurt would you Jefferson” she mocked as she walked into the classroom. Alex, now burning with rage, tried to follow, but the arm in front of him now gripped his own.

“Don’t fucking touch me” he hissed, no longer caring about whatever chance he had to make amends with Jefferson.

“Sorry.” Jefferson immediately released his arm, taking a large step back. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” With the pressure lifted from his arm and Jefferson’s soothing voice, he felt calm wash over him. He felt slightly guilty for reacting so violently, but not guilty enough to say anything, walking into the classroom, adamantly avoiding looking at Jefferson.

Once he’d sat down, it wasn’t long before the professor walked in and started the class. Alex fell into his easy routine of taking notes, filling many pages. He scrutinized everything the professor said, head bursting full of ideas that were just waiting to jump out at the first opportunity.

Luckily that came soon when the professor opened the point up to discussion and someone made a stupid comment which was far too easy to prove wrong. For a moment after his small speech the class remained silent, and he thought his points would go unopposed, which was far too easy and no fun at all, but then Jefferson’s familiar voice stepped in. Still spewing nonsense like the rest of the class, but more intelligent nonsense, something Alex could have fun with. A smile spread across his face. Eliza was right, nothing had changed. 


End file.
